State Of Emergency Declared In 3 Of Peru's Northern Provinces

Image: The Cajamarca region of Peru. Wikipedia

Peru Declares State of Emergency to Quell Violent Mining Protests -- FOX News/DOW Jones

Peru's government declared late Tuesday a state of emergency in three provinces in Cajamarca region following violent protests against Newmont Mining Corp.'s (NEM) Minas Conga copper and gold project.

The 30-day state of emergency, which suspends civil liberties like freedom of assembly, took effect Wednesday and is aimed at restoring order in the provinces. Three people were killed Tuesday and 21 others injured during clashes between police and protesters.

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More News On The State Of Emergency Declared In 3 Of Peru's Provinces

Peru anti-mining protests escalate during state of emergency -- The Guardian
Four dead, dozens injured in Peru mining protests -- Deutsche Welle
Peru: Three die in clashes over Conga gold mine project -- BBC
State of emergency in Peru after mine protest -- Al Jazeera
Peru protest against Newmont leaves one dead, leader detained -- Reuters
Peru Police Arrest Newmont Protesters Amid Emergency Measure -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Peru protest leader held amid emergency -- The Australian

Peru Will Be No. 1 Coca Producer by 2011, Experts Say

From Latin American Herald Tribune:

LIMA – Peru could displace Colombia in 2011 as the world’s biggest producer of coca, the raw material of cocaine, according to experts quoted Monday by La Republica newspaper.

In “2011 or 2012 Peru very probably should come to be the No. 1 producer of cocaine in the world, as occurred in the 1980s,” analyst Jaime Garcia Diaz told the paper.

In that decade, the amount of territory in Peru on which coca leaf was being grown was about 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres). In 2005, about 48,200 hectares were used to grow coca and in 2008 56,100 hectares, and at present the country is the world’s second largest producer of coca, according to the United Nations.

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My Comment: With this growth in Peru's drug trade, there will be a corresponding growth in insurgent groups like the Shining Path.

The Growing Insurgency In Peru

Guerrillas Have Doubled Their Firepower, Peru Army Says -- Latin American Herald Tribune

LIMA – The Shining Path guerrilla group has doubled its firepower, acquiring sophisticated arms and gaining the ability to shoot down helicopters, the La Republica newspaper reported over the weekend, citing military intelligence sources.

Guerrillas operating in the Valley of the Apurimac and Ene rivers, or VRAE region, a jungle area in southern and southeastern Peru that has a strong presence of the group’s remnants and drug traffickers, have two rocket launchers, a grenade launcher and several heavy machine guns, including one capable of firing 1,000 rounds per minute.

The guerrillas also have as many as 99 assault rifles.

The vast majority of the arsenal belonging to the Shining Path, which is led in the VRAE by “Comrade Jose,” was taken from dead soldiers in combat.

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My Comment: Another drug financed insurgency. By take away the drugs you will take away the money .... once the money is gone this insurgency will be dead in the water. but alas .... like Colombia, Mexico, and other Latin American countries .... this is easier said than done.

Shining Path Rebels Stage Comeback In Peru

From CNN:

(CNN) -- A brutal Maoist guerrilla group that terrorized Peru during the 1980s but pretty much disappeared when top leaders were captured in the 1990s is making a resurgence.

In the latest of several recent attacks by the Sendero Luminoso, known in English as the Shining Path, 14 government soldiers were killed in an ambush this month. It was, a Sendero leader said afterward, "the strongest blow" against the government in quite a while.

It also was not an isolated incident.

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Update: The Return of the Shining Path: Latin America's Downward Spiral -- Counter Terrorism Blog

My Comment: Like Mexico and Colombia, drug money is fueling this insurgency. Cut this flow .... you cut the insurgency. But unlike Colombia or Mexico .... the Shining path are monsters that pales in comparison to the other conflicts in the region.

Is A Drug Insurgency Growing In Peru?

Peru Rebels Vow More Attacks In Drug Zone -- Yahoo News/Reuters

LIMA (Reuters) – Leftist rebels in Peru will launch more attacks against the army, a commander of a remnant band of Shining Path guerrillas said after their eleventh deadly ambush in rugged coca-growing regions this year.

"We will fight militarily those who defend imperialism and the government, and they are the armed forces and the police," Victor Quispe Palomino, who identified himself by his rebel name, Comrade Jose, said in a call to a radio station.

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More News On Peru

Peru defends offensive after deadly rebel attack -- AP
Regrouped leftists blamed for Peru attacks -- Euronews
Peru Says Ex-Teacher Behind Latest Rebel Attacks -- Latin American Herald Tribune
Shining Path kills 13 Peruvian soldiers -- The Telegraph
13 Peruvian Troops Killed in Ambushes -- New York Times
13 Peruvian soldiers killed in rebel ambush -- AFP

Is The Shining Path Returning To Peru?

Family and friends attending the funeral of Marco Montaro, a member of the Peruvian National Police, on Nov. 18, 2008. Montaro was killed during an ambush by Shining Path guerrillas in the Valley of the Rivers Apurimac and Ene(VRAE), in Ayacucho Province, Peru. (Moises Saman for The New York Times)

Violence Returns To Peru's Remote Jungle -- International Herald Tribune

CANAYRE, Peru: First the soldiers came to Río Seco, a coca-growing village in the lush mountain jungles of southern Peru.

"They called us subversives and they opened fire," said Benedicto Cóndor, 55, a coca farmer.

They shot and killed four people at close range, including a woman who was five months pregnant, witnesses said. Two children, ages 6 and 1, disappeared and are believed dead.

Four months later, the guerrillas arrived, accusing the villagers of collaborating with the military. They abducted the village leader, who has not been seen since.

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My Comment: It is all about drugs and the blood money that it produces.